ACL, Schm-ACL.: Stefon Diggs New Teammates Are Calling Him an Athletic 'Freak' and Talking About His 'Explosion'

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May 7th, 2025. A day that will live in whatever the opposite of infamy is. Remember this day well. Because this was the day you got confirmation that the Stefon Diggs who chose to sign a relatively low-cost "earn it" deal with the Patriots will, in all likelihood, earn it:

Source - Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs is not yet fully cleared for all football activities as he continues to recover from last year’s torn ACL. But he’s doing plenty to impress his new teammates in New England.

Diggs, who tore his ACL while playing for the Texans on October 27, is looking athletic and explosive in offseason work. Patriots tight end Austin Hooper said Diggs has been participating in voluntary offseason workouts and looking better than Hooper expected, given the seriousness of the injury he suffered.

“Energy, man. You can see he’s a freak,” Hooper said of Diggs. “I know he just came off what he came off of, and you can see him already with the explosion, the change of direction, the top end. It’s like, ‘Dang, dude, it must be nice’, you know what I mean? I’m really excited to work with a proven veteran, good player in this league.”

I mean sure, there have been other positive signs. Diggs working out like a "freak":

One who's "explosive":

And on a side note, the fact he's out there demonstrating he knows how to show a lady a great night out seems to suggest he's not worrying about his knee:

No, those moneymakers of his would appear to be as ready as you could ask for with Week 1 still four full months away. 

Now, not to inject any sort of negativity into what I'm hoping to make a purely postive, optimistic blog. But I have to acknowledge that in my desperation to have a true WR1, I've followed some false idols. Guys who I believed would be the matchup nightmare we haven't seen in forever and force opponents to gameplan for him. Josh Gordon. Antonio Brown. DeVante Parker. Juju-Smith Schuster. Just to name a few who were all crushing disappointments for one reason or another. But forget all that. I'm ready to believe again. Diggs would appear to be one of those rare athletes with the gift of rapidly and fully recovering from injuries that would take others years to come back from. If ever. Austin Hooper wouldn't steer us wrong.

That's it. That's the blog. Short and sweet. Welcome to May of 2025, the kickoff of the Summer of Optimism. It's been a long time and I have to admit, I'm feeling pretty good about it.